A dog owner is calling for a criminal investigation into the lethal shooting of her 6-year-old cocker spaniel by a police officer.
Valerie Mueller was in her backyard with her dog Sprite in the early morning hours last Saturday trying to talk a friend out of suicide when police arrived, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
 Valerie Mueller (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel photo) |
The 38-pound dog bounded into the front yard toward the officers as they got out of their squad cars and just seconds later was struck by a bullet and killed.
“He fell over and flinched,” Mueller, 33, told the Milwaukee paper. “To see him fall over flinching and die right there, it’s just hard to explain.”
On top of her loss, police issued Mueller a $120 citation for allowing Sprite to be outside without a leash.
The Milwaukee Police Department is now investigating whether lethal force was necessary to subdue the dog, the Journal Sentinel said.
Mueller’s attorney Alan Eisenberg called the shooting “reckless” and filed a complaint Wednesday with the city’s Fire and Police Commission. He also is asking the Milwaukee County district attorney to conduct a criminal investigation.
The Milwaukee daily said Mueller’s dog-shooting complaint is the first the commission has received this year. Last year, the commission probed three shootings of dogs by police officers.
Another friend of Mueller’s, David Williams, witnessed the shooting.
“I told [police], ‘The dog is harmless, don’t hurt the dog,'” Williams said. “Three seconds later, they shot the dog.”
The Journal Sentinel said Sprite was so much a part of Mueller’s life that she had his paw prints tattooed onto her right foot.
“He was my best friend,” she told the paper. “I did everything with him.”
The female officer who shot the dog, Chaquila C. Peavy, 28, has been on the force since November 2001. Police Chief Arthur Jones said shooting a dog is justified if the officer “reasonably feels that they’re in danger.”
Jill De Grave, education director for the Wisconsin Humane Society, told the Journal Sentinel police officers should have to prove pet killings are justified, the same as if a person were shot.
“Everybody has to be accountable for their actions, especially when something dies as a result,” De Grave said. “The officer must have felt very, very threatened to pull the trigger.”
De Grave said police officers could benefit from training on handling dogs and reading behavior.
